Memories through Time
by tsukiyomimiko
Summary: This story is about Kantarou and his past and Haruka.Not recommended to those who like Raikou and Ibaragi though.R&R!
1. Goddess of Unknown

Time-is an endless space,

Divided into three,

Past-Present-Future

If one asks how can you travel into these three space,

How would you answer?

The Goddess of Unknown

It is winter in Japan. Days are short , nights are long-however ,it still the same in Tokyo .peaceful ,quiet-but such peacefulness don't always last long …………

"Waa-Sugino-sama!Please don't disturb me, I have not completed the article for Reiko and she is arriving in less than an hour and Mu-chan is…."

"Mu-chan is not here. Yes, I know so just be quiet and finish what you are supposed to do ."a nonchalant reply came from Sugino to a frantic looking Kantarou.

"Then, what are you doing here ,Sugino-sama and where is Mu-chan? The fox youkai in red kimono asked while pouring tea for the other tengu ,Haruka ,Who seemed oblivious to the white tengu's arrival.

"I'm staying here for the night since I'm so bored and Mu-chan is not around. She ALWAYS disappears around this time of the year…"he replied to the youkai's question.

An hour later , Kantarou's hour of doom arrived. Even,however loud the racket ,arguments and lots of tears from Reiko saying that her boss will kill her and Kantarou muttering Reiko is an oni under his breath again and again, the two tengus and youkai is still sipping their tea ,enjoying everything round them including the 'show'.

Night time came early and Haruka sneaked out of the house while Kantarou and the other two were busy sleeping , for a night time stroll.His black wings soared through the beautiful night sky , against the cold wind. The tengu was a little surprise though to see a frantic looking Ryokan running through the streets of Tokyo, but he ignored the'crazy' man running round aimlessly.

"This place is …I don't think I've been here before ."The tengu told himself silently as he hide away his wings .It was a sparkling blue lake near Sugino's mountain. He was rather dazzled by the scenery before him however, something pulled him down the bushes and he had his mouth cupped by someone's small palm…..

"Be quiet Lucifer and watch."It was Rosalie.Haruka then did what he was told and his eyes widened.It was Mu-chan transforming to a human form!

Moments after that,she spoke towards their direction,"You two can come on out you know?"

No reply came. After a few moments of silence, Rosalie finally stood up, went towards her and sat down, leaving a half stricken tengu hiding in the thick clump of bushes. Mu-chan sighed and used her psychic powers and 'puppet' Haruka out.

Another moment of silence passed before Haruka spoke to Mu-chan in a suspicious manner, "So.. you are a goddess?"

Mu-chan smiled sweetly and replied happily "Right! However, I find that my powers are a big burden so I sealed myself into this body of a minor yokai form and will transform back on the last full moon of the year."

Haruka looked at her for a moment. "_She is right though. Her powers are rather strong and her aura is totally different from the demons' _

"Does Sugino know about this?" Haruka asked again.

"Him? Nah. But then, I… really like him a lot…" she blushed a little. Haruka fell into the lake because of his shock but was pulled back up by Rosalie. "cause he really cares about me, I know that, always." Mu-chan added.

"Then.. what about that baka master of mine?"

"Kantarou? I treat him as a friend and someone to make Sugino even more jealous so he would be more jealous of 'my love' and he would treat me better!" she exclaimed. Haruka sweat-dropped a little.

"Then why do you.. erm.. eat bugs?" Rosalie's first words came at last.

"Huh? Don't you know that they are highly nutritious and good for the skin?" she remarked loudly. Haruka fainted and looked kind of dazed for a long time after he woke up.

The moon waned and Mu-chan started to turn back to her yokai form.

"Oh.. Haruka! Before I transform back, listen to me you dazed tengu!" she shook the tengu hard to awaken him from his senses.

"Being the goddess of time, I can see into the past, present and future of anyone. Please, no matter what, even if you regain your memories, remain by Kantarou's side. Some scars and pain inflicted in the past cannot be healed with time.. Remember that!"

With Mu-chan's last words for the year, she transformed back into her yokai form. Dawn was breaking. Haruka then carried Rosalie and Mu-chan back home to Kantarou's where a bunch of insane people in there like Reiko and Ryokan were making a fuss that drove the folklorist insane as well.

Once the trio returned, Ryokan left with Rosalie since he was suspicious of Rosalie's being at Kantarou's place and Reiko was extremely glad to get her article at last as Kantarou's 'oni' editor. Kantarou was interrogating Haruka who was trying to ignore his dumb master while Sugino was just delighted to have Mu-chan back again. In Haruka's mind was nothing except Mu-chan's last words. What did they mean?

Mu-chan gave him a 'mu!' meaning that Haruka has to find that out for himself!


	2. Ghosts of the Past

People says that time can heal all wounds.

However, if there are certain scars and pain in the past,

Deeper than hatred and despair,

Can they ever heal?

Ghosts of the past'

"_Promise me, stay by my side and watch me.. ok?"_

"_Kantarou!"_

"_Help me and don't let go.."_

"Kan-chan"

"Kan-chan"

"KAN-CHAN!" the fox yokai cried to her master who was in a daze. It was 2 in the morning and he still had not finished his next article for Reiko, again.

"Er.. oh sorry youko.. Anything the matter?" Kantarou asked the tired looking youkai.

"No, its just that Reiko is here.."

"Crap.. I still haven't finished the article yet! She's gonna kill me!"

"But Kan-chan, someone is with Reiko.." she replied in a calm tone.

"Huh?" Kantarou stood up and looked at the time on his clock. "At this hour?"

Both of them then went downstairs to see who it was without awakening Haruka.

"Konichiwa sensei, sorry to bother you but.. this lady here wants to see you and it seems kinda urgent.." Reiko spoke in a quiet voice to avoid waking 'her' dear Haruka.

"It has been awhile.. Kantarou.."

Kantarou couldn't believe his eyes. A lady wearing a maroon coloured kimono he knew to be his childhood friend was just sitting before him.

"…Rei…"

Both of them stared at each other for a long time and no one spoke as they stood in silence.

The ghosts of Kantarou's past had returned..

"So that woman called Rei came in the middle of the night looking for Kantarou and he knows her as well?" Haruka asked during breakfast.

"Yeah and.." Youko paused to see if the coast was clear before saying again in an inaudible tone, Kan-chan has not been himself ever since…"

"Huh?" Haruka raised an eyebrow. Just as he was about to leave to take a look at how his master was doing, Reiko appeared from the hallway.

"Oh! Good, the both of you are here. Just to let you know, umm, Ichinomiya sensei will go to the editing office to pass the articles to me, since he is not done with them now. Make sure that he comes. Try to come too Haruka!" she added with glimmering eyes. Haruka sweat-dropped. "Anyway, I have to make a move for now! Bye!"

"Take care along the way!" Youko called after Reiko left while Haruka went to see how 'bad' Kantarou was according to Youko.

He finally found the man talking to Rei in a guest room on the second floor. He only heard muffled words until Rei said, "You still have not forgotten that painful parting?" leaving Kantarou speechless. A while later, he also heard, "Kantarou,can you please ask that tengu outside to come in."

"Damn.. she actually.. Eh? How did she know I was here? Am I that obvious?" Haruka scolded himself before stepping in. Just as soon as Haruka sat down between them, Kantarou stood up and opened the sliding doors.

"I'm.. going to hand my article to Reiko now. You can tell him if you want." with that, he left the room with those two alone.

"Why?" Kantarou asked himself repeatedly as he walked along the hallway as memories of that time came back to him like a whirlpool in his head.

He dug his nails into his palm, drawing blood from it.

"…Reiya…"


	3. Writer's Note

:Good ,my editors are not around…Hey there!I'm the REAL writer for this fic!My very first fic,so how do ya all like it?See,me so hardworking and my editers still always pester me to write.Sighs.OH!And before I go I shall get one to do the disclaimer.Lucky draw time!And…Horo Horo from Shaman King!

H:Heck!Why me?

W:Do it now you baka or I'll tell Anna-sama that you let Yoh have a break during training!

H:WA-Tsuki and co.do NOT own Tactics except OCs of the writer……

W:Good boy!(-)


	4. The Unveiling Truth I

Ah,finally,the 3rd chapter!I hope I am writing well.Oh and I will be adding the Character Bios and trems used in this fic soon.Too bad all of the anime characters ran away from me ever since so,Oy!Sugino,do the disclamer while I get myself some cookies.

Sugino:Why me?

the writer holds up mu-chan while eating cookies 

Sugino: sighs Tsuki and co. do NOT have any money to even buy cheeseburger so forget about them buying Tactics.

throws mu-chan to Sugino and continues eating. 

**The unveiling truth(Part 1)**

"Ummm... your tea, Miss Rei," Youko said politely as she handed the cup of hot green tea to Rei.

Why thank you, Youko, I see that Kantarou sure has some fine youkais by his side," smiled the lady.

Youko and Haruka gave a jolt as the sentence 'How did she know' kept on repeating in their mind s.

"Did my ears show!"the frantic Youko asked. "Did my wings show!"Haruka asked her too at the same time.

They stared at Rei. Rei giggled and replied , " No, its just that I can sense your youkai aura. After all I'm from a family of shrine maidens and the long line of priest and priestesses."

"Souka ... so –er ... what was it that kan –chan wants to tell us that you know as well?" "Hmm ..."Rei gave a thought before answering,"never mind ,I think that judging by his tone of voice, he probably wants to keep this past deep in his heart."

"Huh?" Haruka could not understand 'Could it be possible that it has something with what Mu-chan saw?'

Just then, Kantarou returned from the editing office and quietly returned to his room only coming out to have dinner. The atmosphere was tense during dinner that no one spoke. But then...

" Kantarou! Where is Mu-chan!"Sugino the mountain god asked as he descended from the sky with his white wings.

"Eh? A shiroi tengu ? Is he your friend, Kan?"Rei asked happily.Kantarou merely nodded and told Sugino that Mu-chan was not in any corner of the house .However,Mu-chan immediately jump onto Kantarou's lap from the top of the ceiling and said a 'mu'before giving a weird kind of "I hope you did not tell anyone about me"look to Haruka which kind of frighten him a little.

The tense atmosphere came back again after the commotion, even Sugino kept quiet and made no fuss.

After dinner, as Youko was clearing up,Kantarou made an anoucement.

"Youko,Haruka,pack your stuff as we are setting off the first thing the next morning to Kyoto.I've agreed to help out at the Ritual of Calming with Rei's plea for help.

The folklorist then stood up and left the room but not before turning back to tell the fellow youkai servants , "Don't worry ,I'm fine,honest." With that he gave a feeble smile and left.

"WA…Kyoto is so beautiful and we're in a first class train carriage!" The happy and yet money faced fox youkai squealed in delight.

"Of course, Rei is after all married to the wealthy boss of that major shipping company. I think that was three years ago?" Kantarou replied in a rather true but sarcastic tone.

"Yeah and for all we yokai servants do for our poor master we get to eat only rice, soup and fish." Haruka mocked his master whom gave his servant a glare which Haruka ignored while Rei and Youko laughed.

They later arrived in Kyoto along with an unexpected group as well, Mu, Sugino and Rosalie.

"Sugino, what are you doing with a kid and a 'youkai'" Haruka asked the mountain god along the way.

"Mu and Rosalie wanted to come so I had no choice but to tag along."

"But Rosalie…did you tell Ryokan?" Youko asked worriedly.

At Kantarou' s empty house -----

Ryokan was cursing Kantarou as read the note on his door; we will be away for a while

, do not send milk and newspaper for the time being.

"ICHINOMIYA!"

Back to Kantarou and group -----

Kantarou sneezed a couple of times till they reached the shrine, the largest shrine in the whole of Kyoto, the Shrine of the Sacred Tancho Tsuru.

"Come on in, Reika is waiting." Rei told the group as they entered the magnificent shrine of the Tachibana family.

"Kan! You came back at last!" a girl in her late teens, miko clothing and short black hair shouted as she pounced onto Kantarou.

"Long time no see, Reika!" Kantarou replied as he tried to get her off him.

Rei and Reika then showed the group where they would be staying in the shrine compound and explained how Kantarou's help would be needed in the ritual that would be taking a few days later since the head priest who was Rei and Reika's father had passed away the autumn before.

"Youko and Rosalie shall have a room on the left, Haruka and Sugino-sama the next, and Kantarou you know which room yours is." Said the young miko and her elder sister before leaving them to settle in their rooms while Youko was still asking, "Why does Kantarou have a room of his own?"

"So.. Kan has not forgotten about her?" Reika asked Rei.

"Yes.. and to him, it seems it has happened only yesterday."

While they were unpacking, at Raikou's mansion, he was planning something..

"Hmm.. so I see." Raikou told himself as he placed his sword back into his sheathe.

"Ibaragi.. get ready to set off to Kyoto." He told the woman who simply nodded while the giant bodyguard of Raikou was about to prepare for the 'trip' but Raikou stopped him.

"Not you this time ok? And.. pack all those aradamas for me, I will be needing all of them to destroy both master and servant once and for all.."

An evil laughter then echoed through the night.

MANY THX TO MY REVIEWERS AND READERS !

Oh and here is a cookie to Gwynhafra for being my first reviewer and the answer to your question Gwynhafra:I actually thought of Rei's name first as I was thinking about the latest Fatal Frame 3.Heh.Thx for your support!


	5. The Unveiling Truth II

**The unveiling truth(Part 2)**

"Geez.. I'm bored to death. You wanna do anything Onikui?" The tired looking Sugino asked Haruka while Rosalie and Youko were trying to think of an activity that they could do. Haruka just couldn't be bothered as he was still tryin to understand what Mu-chan meant.. "_for some wounds and scars inflicted in the past cannot be healed by time!"_

"I've got it!" Youko suddenly stood up and yelled, causing her half eaten cake to drop from her lap to the floor with a 'splat'! "Oops.."

After cleaning the mess up, she said, "We can explore this shrine on our own! Kan-chan is out somewhere while Rei and Reika is out for the opening of the Spring Festival. After all, we have to know this place since we have to stay here for some time…"

The five (including Mu), then started their tour around the shrine shine which was rather normal like any other shrines they've been in and so, became a little more daring and did something which they wouldn't dare to do if Kantarou, in his current mood was around..

They actually went.. into.. Kantarou's room!

"Until now I still can't believe he has a room of his own." Youko told the others as they started to look up and down for something out of the ordinary.

"Kyoto is Kantarou's hometown.. so I'm not really surprised, Youko." The kuro tengu replied nonchalantly.

"Lucifer.." Rosalie spoke quietly to Haruka with something in her hand. "Look at this.." she then handed the item over to Haruka when Mu jumped onto his shoulder.

Youko and Sugino, being curious, looked at it as well.

It was a picture, which had droplets of water on it but was still clear enough to see. Their eyes widened a little.

It was a picture of Kantarou and a girl who looked like Rei and Reika but her hair was at waist length and she was prettier than the two sisters.

They found a whole box of pictures by the window where Kantarou slept.

All the pictures were of Kantarou, the girl, a younger Rei and a younger Reika. But there was one, which had the shrine yard as the background when the cherry blossoms were in bloom and Kantarou, Rei, Reika, the girl, a man and a woman were in the picture. Behind the picture was a list of the names of the people in it.

The Tachibana family- Tachibana Shigure, head priest, father of: Tachibana Rei, Tachibana Reiya, Tachibana Reika.

The Ichinomiya family- Ichinomiya Kantarou and stepmother, Ichinomiya Saeko.

The gang became dumb and stared at the picture for a long time.

Just who is Reiya?

A distance away from the shrine, Kantarou was staring blankly at the lake where the ritual would be held.

During spring, the demon that slumbers in the lake would cause a flood in the regions of the village near the lake. Many had died over the years due to this, thus the need for the exorcism of the demon.

"I'm sorry, truly, I didn't mean to but still.. forgive me, Reiya" muttered Kantarou as he left.

"Ah I'm so full!" exclaimed the fox youkai

"Glad you enjoyed it. Though it was simple fare." Rei told the group.

Just as everyone was about to leave the dining room—

"Hey Kantarou, who is the girl by the name of Tachibana Reiya?" Sugino asked happily while hugging Mu.

Kantarou froze upon hearing that name.

"uh-oh… Reika told her sister worriedly.

SLAM! Kantarou stood up from the table and opened the sliding doors.

"She's.. gone.."

And he left with another bang of the door. Sugino then asked again, quietly this time, "What's up with him?"

Later that night, Haruka, being worried that his dumb master might do something highly idiotic, went to his room to check on him.

"Kantarou, I'm coming in now." The tengu then opened the sliding doors to find a sleeping Kantarou holding the pictures in his hands by the window.

Haruka sighed as he covered his master with a blanket. Just as he was about to leave he heard him muttering something in his sleep.

"I broke my promise to protect you."


	6. The Unveiling Truth III

**The unveiling truth(Part 3)**

"Haruka! You're still awake?" Rei asked in a surprised tone as she was about to return home.

"Just went to see if that baka master of mine is still alive or dead. Otherwise, the naming bond would be eternal and I'm doomed when that happens." Haruka replied sarcastically while trying not to be rude. Rei laughed at the remark.

"So… care to walk home with me?"

"Huh?" Haruka blinked as though he heard wrongly.

They kept quiet throughout the journey as Haruka walked Rei back to her mansion. However, Rei had other plans and told Haruka to make a detour to the lake first.

"The Ichinomiya family of the long line of exorcists and the Tachibana family of the priests and priestesses have been closely affiliated over a thousand years even though the Ichinomiyas are much more established than we are." Rei told Haruka.

"Reiya, is the second child in the Tachibana family who is also my first younger sister. She died many years ago while doing the ritual to calm the demon slumbering in this lake before us. She knew Kan since she was five, much later after Reika and I did since she was afraid to get out of her room. She used to be possessed by a violent spirit who wanted to give a message to her brother when Reiya was only three. She locked herself away from the world for two years as she thought she would be possessed again."

Rei took another deep breath and continued her sister's story.

"Soon after that, Kan's mother committed suicide as she could not believe she gave birth to a 'monster' as she called it. Kan was very different from everyone including those that could see yokais as well in terms of appearance. Kan's father then remarried a miko from Hokkaido, who took care of Kan very well in spite of his appearance. However, Kan was rather a strong willed person and since his mother died, he told me that he would protect all the people around him. He then ran away from home and stayed in the shrine after learning about yet another tragedy. His father was killed while exorcising ghouls."

Rei looked at Haruka and was surprised to find him even more attentive and maybe attractive.

"It was then Kan found my dear sister in her room and taught her not to be afraid of yokai and become friends with them instead. Reiya then gave Kan her full trust and faith.

She even learned exorcism from Dad together with Kan who was also learning from him. She was Kan's first and only best friend he had. That alone made him even more determined to become strong and upon learning about you, he became obsessed in finding and becoming friends with you and even stronger to protect the people he cherished, including you. So now, I'm telling you not to judge him badly about Kan even when you regain your memories and believe me, he really cares about you and your well being. Well, good night."

With that, Rei bowed and left, leaving Haruka to think through all she had said, alone.

Just as Rei was out of sight, Haruka heard a little voice by his side saying, "You're afraid."

Haruka turned to see a young girl around the age of five, standing by his side, her fringe was covering her eyes but he was sure that he had seen the girl someplace before.

"Like me you're still wondering if he could be trusted, but both of us did trust him in the end. I'm sure that he can be trusted, definitely."

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, and when it subsided, the girl had mysteriously vanished.

'I must be so tired that I'm starting to see things' Haruka told himself mentally as he left. Little did he know that that girl was still watching him and all his movements.

"Because.. Kan kept his promise to me.."

Back at the shrine, Haruka was about to return to his and Sugino's room for a nice sleep but was pulled to a corner by none other than, Mu-chan and Rosalie.

'Why can't I just have a good night's sleep?'

"What on earth do you think you're-" Haruka was silenced by Rosalie's hand again.

"Great… Hope it's not happening again…" Haruka thought to himself sarcastically.

"What do you want, both of you?" Haruka asked quietly.

"Mu will be showing you Kantarou's memories but its okay if you don't want to know." Rosalie told the tengu who, in return, gave the 'of course I do' look which was rather obvious.

"Er… okay, but how?"

"Mu will use me to get some of her powers out and allow us to enter Kantarou's memories." She said as the three of them peeped into Kantarou's room to find him still in a deep slumber.

"Okay Mu, lets do it!" Rosalie told the goddess in yokai form and the next thing Haruka knew, the goddess placed her hands onto Rosalie's and the other pointing at Kantarou and Rosalie holding Haruka's.

With a strange white glow flooding the area around them and before Haruka could say anything else, the trio found themselves in a form of illusionary images in the middle of Kyoto back then, where it all had started in spring.

"It's the opening of the Spring Festival." Rosalie said while Mu-chan gave a 'mu'

"That explains the stalls and people, huh?" Haruka then saw Kantarou entering the shrine."

"Come on both of you, I saw him." He told the two who were following behind.

"Lucifer! We will be watching and not doing anything ok! This is Kantarou's memory and tit cannot be changed. Also, we are only illusions here and not in our real forms in reality! Hear me!" Rosalie shouted while trying to keep up with the tengu.

"I hear you, so hurry up!" He yelled as they entered the shrine to find the younger Kantarou.

Now really,plz readers out there plz do review this fic or I shall discontinue it no matter what my editors say .So,plz?


	7. PAST

"Kantarou… you didn't tell Saeko that you are here, again? She was really worried the last time you know?" Shigure, the head priest of the shrine asked the boy before him.

"Well, Shigure-sama… I really want to learn exorcism! Onegai!" pleaded the young Kantarou.

"Hmm.. I'll see what Saeko says." was the priest's reply. "Why don't you go and play with Rei and Reika? I'm sure they will be happy to see you."

Kantarou nodded and left the room while Shigure thought of a way to calm the boy's stepmother down.

The priest was wrong about what his daughter's reactions would be. They were more than happy and started running about the shrine like crazy as they played.

However, Kantarou noticed that someone was watching him in the room nearby. But, he ignored it and continued to play.

Later that night, Shigure told Kantarou that Saeko had allowed him to stay, before he runs away again and told him to rest in one of the guest rooms.

Just as Kantarou was passing by the room again, he heard a faint voice of a girl sing. He want in to find out who the voice belonged to.

"Sakura… Sakura… Ah! The girl spun around quickly to find Kantarou at the doorway, they stared at each other for a moment before she started to yell but Kantarou immediately covered her mouth to keep her voice down.

"Its alright! Who are you?" He asked the girl who was crying now.

"R-Rei-Reiya…"

The next day-----------------

"I can't believe that Shigure-san actually interrogated us!" Kantarou moaned as they sat in the backyard.

"Guess they were in shock. You saw the look on their faces when I came out for breakfast right? They were priceless!" Reiya giggled.

"I know! Why don't we go to the Spring Festival, it looks really fun!" Kantarou suggested.

'I guess it will be fine with Kan around…" 

"Ok!"

(15 minutes later…)

"I hope Dad's alright… he nearly had a heart attack when I said I wanted to get out of the room to go to the festival." Reiya told Kantarou.

"Don't worry." Kantarou replied. "Rei and Reika are there."

"Wanna go and play those games?" the boy asked.

"Yeah!" Reiya then took Kantarou's hand and went off to the Spring Festival.

Back at the shrine-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes Saeko, Kantarou that boy actually got Reiya out of her room! And Saeko! Stop yelling over the phone!"Shigure was yelling back to compete with the woman's loud voice. She was frantic over her stepson. Rei and Reika sighed, thinking that it would be a long day ahead of them.

At night, Kantarou was going around the festival site with Reiya.

"I think the fireworks are starting soon. Stay here Kan, I'll go get some candy for us." Reiya told Kantarou who nodded.

As soon as she came back, she overheard some boys talking about Kantarou.

"That kid is soo weird! Look at his eyes and hair!" one of them said. "I know, he is weird. No one plays with him too! What a freek!"

Reiya had heard enough. She immediately stormed all the way to them and started yelling, "Kan is not a freek! If he is a freek, you horrible people have got to be the freekiest people in the world!"

The boys froze upon hearing what she said to them and she was the head priest's daughter!

Reiya then walked poised and pretty to where Kantarou was but muttered under her breath, "Jerks!"

"What took you that long?" Kantarou asked as he led Reiya to a hill he often went.

"Nothing much." Reiya smiled sweetly to Kantarou as she ate some of the candy she bought along the way.

" Erm- Kan? Where are we going?" Reiya asked as they ascended the hill.

"You'll see… There!" Kantarou pointed to a small pond at the peak of the hill.

"Kan!" It was Kantarou's three demon friends, "Hurry! It's starting! The fireworks! Eh? Who is she, Kan?"

Reiya shivered but Kantarou grabbed onto her trembling hand. "Don't worry, they are my friends!" Reiya smiled and nodded as they all sat down eating the candy and watching the fireworks deep into that night.

Several years later…

"Are you really going, Kan?" the older Reiya asked the older Kantarou at the train station.

"Yeah, I want to study folklore, now that I've learnt exorcism…" Kantarou told the sad looking miko.

"But… don't worry… I promise that I will come back okay? And… I will always… protect you."

Then Reiya pounced onto him and gave him a hug before seeing him off.

Ever since, Reiya has been fulfilling her duties as Shrine maiden along with Rei as Reika is still learning, also going around to other places to exorcise yokais…

At the outskirts of Kyoto at a small village-------------------------------------------------------

"Many thanks! Reiya-san, You have done us a big favor by exorcising that yokai!" said the village chief. Reiya was worried for that yokai she had just chased away.

"Sure… umm… I've got to go! Bye! Reiya then gave a bow before leaving as she ran to the woods where the yokai was.

"Umm… are you alright? " Reiya asked the injured demon but it retaliated and was about to kill Reiya. Somewhere nearby, a young teen saw that and immediately chanted a prayer and exorcised the aradama in the yokai.

"You alright?" the teen asked.

"Oh my, he looks so much like Kan…" 

"Yeah… Er- Thanks…" Reiya told the teen as she stood there staring at the teen's eyes like the way she stared at Kantarou's for the first time she met him.

"So… where are you heading off to?" the teen asked Reiya along the mountain path.

"Back to my home in Kyoto. Since my job here is done." Reiya said and found the teen 'inspecting' her at every angle. "What ARE you doing?" She asked as she eyed the teen suspiciously, ready to tackle him down.

"Nothing… Its just that you look so much like my childhood friend." The teen smiled back at her innocently. They then kept quiet throughout the rest of the journey.

At Kyoto------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both Reiya and the teen bid farewell to each other.

A few days later…

Reiya reached the train station with a panicking Rei waiting for her.

"Reiya! Quick! You have to come home now!" She told Reiya as she dragged her back to the shrine.

"Someone is waiting for you" Rei old the clueless sister of hers as she prepared her best kimono for a dance.

"Please tell me who it is!" Reiya begged Reika who ignored her by going o play 'oni tag' with her other mikos in training.

"Reiya!" Shigure called out to his daughter. "The mystery person is waiting." He then led her into a guest room.

In there, was someone extremely familiar to Reiya, sipping green tea.

"AHH! You!" the two people then pointed to each other. It was the teen that Reiya had met the other day.

"I se that you two are enjoying yourselves, Reiya, Kantarou."

"What!" the two of them started to stare at each other.

"Its been awhile, Reiya." Kantarou spoke again.

"And you have not changed at all, Kan"

"Looks like you're much more feminine now" Kantarou told Reiya after She had danced along with Reika to the tune Rei was playing.

"Hahaha, bad joke Kan." Reiya told him sarcastically. "Will you be staying, Kan?"

"That is until the Tokyo University accepts me though, and I heard from Shigure-san that you requested to do the 'calming' for this year?"

"My blood pressure went up as a result," Shigure mocked, ignoring the glare from Reiya.

That night by the lake, Kantarou and Reiya sat beneath their favorite Sakura tree.

"Was Rei the one who told you about me doing the ritual?" Reiya asked.

"Yeah, and I kept my promise right? By coming back for you. Don't worry about getting the ritual wrong, cause I'll be there, kay?" Kantarou replied.

"It's so beautiful at night," Reiya spoke again, "but… no one can believe that a demon lies beneath this beautiful lake."

Kantarou then turned to face Reiya, "Kiren…"

"Kantarou?" Reiya called without looking at him, blushing a little. "Promise me, that you'll be there, at the ritual, watching me…"

Kantarou smiled and said "Promise."

"Ore… omai no… mamoru." (In Romanji Japanese) I'll stay and protect you

Both of them smiled as they gazed at the lake.

The last day of Spring, is also the day of the 'Ritual of calming', which would begin only when the sun sets, at dusk. The main person doing the ritual will chant a prayer will chant a prayer while 10 miko below the age of 12 will form a ring around the main person like in the game Kagome, and sing a ritual song.

During the ritual, everything went rather smoothly but Kantarou felt something wrong. His bells had rung meaning that there was a demon nearby other than the one in the lake.

"I better exorcise the demon before it comes, disrupt the ritual and harm Reiya and the others" Kantarou thought and left the ritual ground secretly.

However, Reiya saw him leaving.

"Kantarou? Is he leaving? No… No way!" Reiya thought but no matter how she tried, she was still puzzled at his disappearance.

That made her mind not concentrate on the ritual and the lake serpent awoke from its sleep and summoned a massive flood.

Kantarou, managed to exorcise the demon and when he went back, it was too late. The serpent had flooded the whole region.

"Where's Reiya?" He asked Rei, panicking as Rei and Reika were helping the young mikos.

"She's not here!" a young miko, who was clear of what was happening, told the three of them.

"Shigure-san!" Kantarou called out to Shigure who managed to get out of harm's way. "Take care of the others, I'm going to look for Reiya!" Before Shigure could reply, Kantarou was gone.

"Grab my hand Reiya!" Kantarou yelled as he grabbed on to her hand, but the serpent saw them both and it attacked Kantarou straight on. However, Kantarou did not release his grip on Reiya though he was badly wounded. The whirlpool then became stronger and so did all the currents. As a result, Reiya's hand slipped through Kantarou's

"KAN!"

Kantarou, being wounded, was unable to do anything and lost his conciousness.

"Is Kantarou alright?" a female voice asked Shigure. "I don't know, but that serpent left a pretty big scar on him though."

They were all in the hospital, Shigure and all, by Kantarou's bedside. Kantarou shifted and woke up with a jolt, causing Saeko to jump in fright. He noticed that Reiya was not around.

"Where's Reiya?" the exorcist asked anxiously. Shigure and everyone else hung their heads, wondering if they should tell him. Rei then said, "I- I'm sorry Kan…" as she started to cry.

"So that's what happened..." Rosalie said quietly as they returned to reality while Kantarou was still fast asleep. It looks as if not even a minute passed at all.

"Its really bad…" Rosalie said as she stood up and hugged Mu-chan tightly. She was crying herself! Haruka was a little dazed. He pitied Kantarou a little now. He stood up and patted the nymph's head.

"Stop crying now and get some sleep. We have to help in tomorrow's preparation of the ritual." Haruka told Rosalie as they all went back to bed.

The next day, Kantarou was much gloomier than the night before but nonetheless gave a feeble smile at breakfast saying that he was fine. Haruka was still a little worried.

Too bad for him, Kantarou noticed and said, "I'm fine you know… So just relax."

"How did you…"

"By the looks on your face." Kantarou laughed a little before going to change into his ritual clothes (his exorcist clothing)

Haruka stared at him for a while before going off to find Rosalie, Yoko, Sugino, Mu, Rei and Reika who were in the backyard playing 'oni tag'.

"I hope that baka is fine like he says he is." Haruka sighed and muttered, 'That baka master of mine…"


	8. Unwanted Reality

"Haruka!" Youko called as she parted, obviously trying to keep up with his fast pace. It was nearly sundown and Haruka suddenly asked Reika where Kantarou used to live. Upon receiving his answer, he dragged Sugino, Mu, Rosalie and Youko along.

"Onikui! Where are we going" Sugino asked.

"Mu!" Whatever that means…

"The ritual is starting in an hour!" Rosalie stated.

"I'm just making a quick visit to Saeko." Haruka replied as he stopped in front of a huge Japanese mansion.

"Don't" (Sugino)

"Tell" (Rosalie)

"Me" (Youko)

"KAN/ KANTAROU USED TO LIVE HERE!" (All except Haruka)

"And who do we have here? Such strong auras… including the Onikui tengu's coated with a tinge of Kan's aura… I guess you must be his friends…" An old voice called out as the huge wooden gates opened.

"Are you Kantarou's stepmother- Ichinomiya Saeko?" Haruka asked politely.

"Indeed, do come in and have some tea…" Saeko spoke as she led them into the house. "So… you must be here to know more about that son of mine… or you can say… my stepson." Haruka nodded quietly at Saeko's question while the rest of them sat down, dumbfounded, except for Mu of course, who was eating the onigiris without a care in the world.

"That poor child…his mother never liked him, not a bit at all only the family fortune and after her death, Kei, his father, also my husband, remarried me and of course, I knew what the child could see. Since then I'm a miko as well. He was scared ever since, to lose someone close to him. Then, Reiya came into the picture and brightened up Kantarou's life. But that ritual went wrong many years ago and that demon took Reiya's life along with it into the lake. Kantarou was grieved by her death and that was when the search for you, Onikui, began. He thinks that he broke the promise he made to Reiya. One; that he would protect her till the very end. Two; that he would watch her do the ritual. He broke the second promise by leaving the ritual grounds and… you know the rest…"

"I see…" Youko whispered as she lowered her head sadly and Sugino patted her back softly.

Just before they left for the ritual grounds, Saeko pulled Haruka aside and told him, "Be warned… You must be careful of the decisions that you make later on… else you will regret it forever.

With that, Saeko smiled and said, "Well, be careful along your way."

The ritual takes place from dusk to dawn and it is practically a long tiring talk for the main person doing it. It has been an hour and Haruka, together with the others were already starting to fall asleep! But then…

"RUMBLE!" an unusual earthquake shook the town.

"Wha-what happened? I'm dreaming I 'm in a wonderful dreamland and what?" Haruka said dreamily.

It was the water serpent along with the ghouls of the drowned villagers. It was something neither Kantarou nor the others refused to believe.

"Re-Reiya?" Kantarou and the others gasped. Reiya stared at him, standing above the water serpent with ropes connecting her to the serpent and the villagers.

"It's spiritual binding! The technique which the Tachibana family created!" Rei yelled.

"What does it do?" Sugino asked.

"It binds the user to the demons! The other attack is used by the Ichinomiya family."

However, Kantarou stood there stunned. Just as they wanted to ask Reiya something, Raikou and Ibaragi appeared on the opposite shore of the lake.

"Now Ichinomiya… how would you like the person you had cared so much for to turn against you?" Raikou mocked and laughed as Ibaragi smiled evilly.

Now, Reiya spoke words which Kantarou had never wanted to hear…

"You broke your promise to me Kan." Then, she commanded the ghouls to attack the group.


	9. Realizations&Truth

Kantarou was in a shock and was helpless against the attack but thankfully, Haruka blocked the attack. He then yelled to his 'baka' master, "What in kami's name are you doing Kantarou? Get a grip on yourself!"

Raikou then shouted to the tengu, "Sorry Onikui, you have something else to handle instead. Ibaragi!" Ibaragi nodded at her master's orders and played a tune on her instrument, causing Haruka to groan in pain as the memories of his past returned to him, including his true nature.

"I-Ichinomiya…"

Kantarou was still in a daze. Rei and Reika, who were fighting off the ghouls and the waves along with Sugino and the ten mikos, shouted to Raikou, "Minamoto, you &$! How can you and your family stoop down so low! Just because the Minamoto family and the Ichinomiya family are rivals, I still can't believe you would put a hundred aradamas into the serpent, ghouls and our poor sister's soul to get back at Kantarou and Haruka! Jerk! Sick!"

Raikou laughed again, "You girls from the Tachibana family sure humor me! I thank you for calling me a jerk because I am one!"

Haruka, who was then in his true nature, was out of his mind wanting to kill Kantarou and saying, "Ready to die Ichinomiya?" Kantarou then said quietly, "If you think you must and this will calm you down and ease your hatred, then go ahead... I'm ready." As Haruka raised his staff, ready to launch an attack on Kantarou, Rosalie and Mu noticed a shadow in the lake, trying to get out but was trapped beneath.

"Mu! Mu!" Mu told Rosalie. "What? You want me to use your powers to free that thing?" Mu nodded and Rosalie reluctantly agreed and thus freeing a spirit. It did not show itself and used sacred ropes like the ones the possessed Reiya was using to control the serpent and ghouls and at the same time, pulling Haruka down in the nick of time before the attack landed on Kantarou and killed him. Youko gasped as she saw what almost happened while a frown appeared on Raikou's face. He turned to face Kantarou.

"Now its only you and me Ichinomiya."

"Haruka…" Kantarou whispered, hoping that the tengu was safe.

Haruka, who was dragged into the lake, found himself in the same warm light which engulfed him when he entered into Kantarou's memories. Before him, was the girl he had met the other night at the lake. She sang a tune and erased Haruka's hatred.

"You-You are Reiya! But how?" Haruka said as he became himself again.

"My soul split as part of me believed in Kan while the other did not, when I died.A split soul." The little girl replied.

"A rare case huh?" Haruka replied.

"And I believe we need to talk." The younger Reiya replied.

"About what?" Haruka eyed her suspiciously.

"You still remember what he had said back then?" Reiya asked before quoting, "It does not matter if you returned to your true nature or not Haruka, because I believe in you." She finished. "Right? And before now he said that…"

"Yeah… I know." Haruka muttered. Reiya then smiled and held out her hand. "Let us go back to Kan's side and stop this madness once and for all.Shall we?" Haruka grinned and replied as he held onto her hand, "Lets."

Back on the shore of the lake, Sugino and the others were fighting the army of ghouls while Youko, Rosalie and Mu stood out of harm's way. Raikou then took out his sword while Kantarou took out his prayer beads. Raikou then told Kantarou " Time to disappear from the face of this earth, Ichinomiya!" Kantarou frowned and said, "Please use a change of words Raikou, I'm sick and tired of that." Raikou then said" Hmph! Reiya!"

Reiya obeyed Raikou's orders and brought the lake serpent forward to attack Kantarou. Right at that crucial moment, a couple of sacred ropes came out from the lake like before and bound itself around Reiya and the serpent. "What? Who did that?" an annoyed Ibaragi screamed. From the lake, an unknown force forced its way up to the lake known as Haruka's and the younger Reiya's! Raikou stared in disbelief for a while before commanding Haruka, "Onikui! Attack Kantarou and take your revenge now!" Haruka turned, glared at Raikou for a moment before hitting Raikou hard with his staff something which was not anticipated by him.

"Shut up you baka. I don't take orders from you." Haruka said as he went over to Kantarou's side. "Sorry about that just now."

Kantarou then replied, still with that serious face of his, "Its not your fault Haruka." The older Reiya was still trying to free herself from the younger Reiya's spiritual bind. The younger Reiya then told Haruka, "Its time I return to my real form again. "With that, she merged with the older Reiya, thus destroying the aradamas possessing her.


	10. END

"Reiya? Two? Wait… are they split souls Haruka?" Kantarou asked him who nodded. The older Reiya with her memories back and true self looked at Raikou and Ibaragi. "Both of you make me sick." Reiya muttered as she bound all of the ghouls, the lake serpent including the two to herself and turned to face Kantarou and the rest. She told Kantarou with tears welling in her eyes, " Kan, an Eternal Seal needs a sacrifice to send away souls and yokai forever right? Now… grant me my wish… to be the sacrifice to end this."

"Reiya… I…" Kantarou looked at Reiya's determined look before saying sadly, "Alright." Reiya then smiled with tears spilling from her eyes and whispered something to Kantarou which made him cry with a smile as well.

_**ima boku no kono te de kimi ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
sono kanashimi wo iyaseru sonna CHIKARA ga hoshii  
kono sekai no naka de boku ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
dekiru koto nara itsumo kimi wo mamoru tsuyosa ga hoshii  
**_

With a prayer and some struggling and cursing from Raikou and Ibaragi, dawn came and the ritual finally came to an end.

Two weeks later----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hope you're doing well Kantarou, it's been so long since I last saw you… my child." Saeko told her stepson sitting before her, drinking the tea that she had made. "And for kami's sake Kantarou, keep your salary for yourself instead of sending half of it to me every month! You're living with two yokais under one roof while I 'm living all alone so you need it more than I do. And I can see those two yokais of yours are simply wonderful so treat them better will you?"

_**kotoba ja umaku ienai  
kodoku wo daremo ga daiteru yo ne  
namida to tomo ni umareta  
bokura wa hitori ja ikirarenai  
**_

Kantarou looked up from his tea, "How did you know that…?" Saeko smiled and said, "They came to find me of course, and I can see that they are very concerned about you. Even Haruka." Kantarou smiled in return. "Oh? That is a surprise. Well, I have to be going now, the train is going to leave in an hour or so. I'll come back and see you again… mother…" Saeko laughed, "My-my-my, I think I can die with no regrets now that I've finally heard you calling me mother." Kantarou laughed as well. "Well, you amuse me all the time." With that, Kantarou bowed and left for another destination before going to the station. The lake.

_**hito wo yowai kedo taisetsu na dareka no tame nara  
kitto tsuyoku nareru sa  
**_

"Spring is ending already. Time sure flies." Kantarou told himself. Just as he was about to leave, he saw a faint image of a Tancho looking at him from the heart of the lake. "Reiya?" Kantarou rubbed his eyes and when he looked again, it was gone. '_Maybe I'm seeing things._' Kantarou thought as he shrugged and left the lake for the train station.

_**ima koko de deatta kimi ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
kono sekai no katasumi de meguri aeta kimi ni  
ima koko ni ikiteru boku ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
negai wa hitotsu itsumo kimi wo mamoru tsuyosa ga hoshii  
**_

"Waa Why are you leaving Kan? Why, why, why?" Reika wailed as Rei tried to calm her down. Kantarou smiled awkwardly while Haruka, Youko and Rosalie were trying to get all of the their suitcases on board the train. Sugino and Mu had left earlier that day.

"I'll come back to see you Reika… so stop crying okay?" Kantarou told the wailing miko "So I guess the ritual will be abolished? The ritual of the Calming?" Kantarou turned to ask Rei who nodded and replied "Yes,since the serpant is now gone and Kan-do take care of yourself."

"I will, so don't worry." Kantarou replied happily. Just as they had bid each other farewell, a voice came out of nowhere.

_**mayonaka omoidesunda  
osanai ano hi no tooi kioku  
ijiwaru sareteta ano ko  
kabatte soredemo mamorenakute**_

"YOUKO!" It was the young master of the kimono fabric shop Youko had once worked for. "It can't be…?" Youko muttered as she ran over to greet the man. Both exchanged greetings and the man passed a gift box to her, saying that he heard she was there from a friend so he had come to see her. "Won't you stay with me, Youko?" he asked sadly. Youko shook her head, "I can't… I'm a yokai so…"

_**mune ga itaku naru omoide wa ketsui wo unagasu  
ima wa tsuyoku arou to  
**_

"I don't mind, Youko! I don't! The mikos told me that there are good and bad yokais and so I don't mind, Youko!Because I know you're not like any of those youkais!" the man protested but Youko shook her head. "No, the river between us is too wide. I'm sorry… You will find a better person than I am, I'm sure of it." Both became silent for a moment before bidding farewell sadly.

_**sou boku de ii nara kimi no soba ni ite agetai  
sono kanashimi wo iyaseru sonna CHIKARA nakutemo  
kono sekai no naka de kimi no soba ni ite agetai  
namida nuguu sore dake shika dekinai toshitemo  
**_

On board the train, Youko and Rosalie were playing hand games while Kantarou and Haruka remained quiet as they stared at the scenery outside the window. Haruka then spoke up, "I remember Reiya telling you something… what is it?" Kantarou smiled without looking back at him. "Oh, nothing much, but I'm glad that you still trust me Haruka." Haruka looked at Kantarou unbelievingly for a moment before saying, "I'm glad though, to be the tengu I now am… and Raikou with Ibaragi sealed away in the lake. So… I uses there will be some peace at last huh?"

_**nanimokamo mikansei sa  
soredemo boku wa kimi wo mamoru yo  
**_

"Nope. There is one more oni.." Kantarou stated. "Reiko." The both of them said in unison and they all laughed it off.

_**ima boku no kono te de kimi ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
sono kanashimi wo iyaseru sonna CHIKARA ga hoshii  
kono sekai no naka de boku ni nani ga dekiru darou?  
dekiru koto nara itsumo kimi wo mamoru tsuyosa ga hoshii**_

-Flashback-

"Arigato Kantarou… Orewa… itsumo nando demo… zutto…(thank you Kantarou… I… will always be with you…forever…)

Many thanks to ALL reviewers!Arigato!

Story by: Tsukimiko

Typists: Tsukinokami, Tsukiyomi

Editors: Tsukinokami, Tsukitensai, Tsukiyomi

Romanji Japanese: Tsukinokami


	11. Final NOTE

YAY!Miko here!I'm sooo glad that I've finished this ficcie of mine and arigato to ALL reviewers!(gives out cookies to everyone including Tsuki&Co. members)  
Also another thing for you all out there to know,in the final chapter,which is a song-fic,that is the image song of Kantarou called kono sekai no katasumi(A corner of this world)! 

Well,thanks again!


End file.
